Angers Cathedral sculpture at west door TTaylor bliaut

The bliaut or bliaud is an overgarment that was worn by both sexes from the eleventh to the thirteenth century in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, featuring voluminous skirts and horizontal puckering or pleating across a snugly fitted under bust abdomen. The

sleeve A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to ''slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, acro ...

s are the most immediately notable difference when comparing the bliaut to other female outer clothing of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. They fit closely from the shoulder to approximately the elbow, and then widen from the elbow to drape to floor- or nearly floor-length. This garment's usage appears to be geographically limited to areas of French influence, with some works depicting the garment or the garment in transition as far away as

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and modern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Evolution of the bliaut

Women's bliaut

Examples of this garment and its evolution appear as early as the Bayeux Tapestry, wherein a female figure wears a garment which is loose in the body, but has the extended sleeve that would be an identifying characteristic of the style after its transition. Paintings and illuminated items that depict the item as well include a miniature called Ladder of Virtue dated to the twelfth century and the work of

Claricia Claricia or Clarica was a 13th-century German illuminator. She is noted for including a self-portrait in a South German psalter of c. 1200, now in The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. In the self-portrait, she depicts herself as swinging from the t ...

, a nun and illuminator who appears to be wearing one in her small self-portrait in a South German Psalter dated c. 1200, currently in the

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Earlier depictions of bliauts appear to be cut in one piece, such as an example at Angers Cathedral, which is cinched at the natural waistline. The statue at Angers also shows visible lacing at the sides. Later examples of statuary such as the

jamb A jamb (from French ''jambe'', "leg"), in architecture, is the side-post or lining of a doorway or other aperture. The jambs of a window outside the frame are called “reveals.” Small shafts to doors and windows with caps and bases are known ...

s of the Cathedral of Chartres west façade portals show the full accomplishment of the bliaut on female saints and patrons, such as the "Lady With Embroidered Hem," appearing on the left, beside the left portal. These later bliauts, usually shown on statues carved between the 1130s and 1160s, are termed the ''bliaut girone'', and unlike their predecessors, were cut in two pieces. The bliaut girone consisted of a fitted bodice (''cors'') and skirt (''girone''), which was pleated into a low waistband and fell down in vertical folds. It was often paired with a

girdle A belt, especially if a cord or rope, is called a girdle if it is worn as part of Christian liturgical vestments, or in certain historical, literary or sports contexts. Girdles are used to close a cassock in Christian denominations, including th ...

, or ''ceinture'', which was wrapped around the stomach, emphasising the womb. The bliaut girone was frequently worn at court and can be seen on the seals of

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from 1 ...

Marie of France, Countess of Champagne Marie of France (1145 – 11 March 1198) was a French princess who became Countess of Champagne by marriage to Henry I, Count of Champagne. She was regent of the county of Champagne three times: during the absence of her spouse between 1179 and ...

and Agnes de Champagne. '' Lanval'', an 1160s poem by

Marie de France Marie de France (fl. 1160 to 1215) was a poet, possibly born in what is now France, who lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an unknown court, but she and her work were almost certainly known at the royal court o ...

, makes reference to 'tightly laced dresses of dark purple'.

Men's bliaut

The men's bliaut was more loosely fitted than the women's, and was cut in one piece with a flared skirt. Gores were inserted into the skirt to produce vertical folds.

Materials

The fabrics available in this time would have been limited to woolens, linens, and silks. A fine wool or silk seems to be the best option, as linen is rather more difficult to dye a permanent color, and colored depictions of this item show a great deal of color.

Construction

The historic costuming community remains divided over the method by which the abdominal folds are achieved. Theories range from cut to lacing to fabric manipulation methods. # Patterning an extended torso from underbust to waist or just above the hip, which when worn would achieve a number of wrinkles in the area. # Patterning for a tight abdomen. A garment sewn to fit tightly across the abdomen creates horizontal wrinkles due to tension. # Cutting a rather narrow abdomen and lacing the sides of the garment to create tensioned horizontal wrinkling. # What is modernly termed lattice or "honeycomb" smocking, which is a form of gathered fabric manipulation executed on the underside/interior. # Narrow pleats created by the ''plissé'' technique–gathering fabric with stitches, wetting the fabric, and "setting" the pleats by allowing the wet fabric to dry under weight or tension–were found on linen chemises or smocks in the 10th century

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

graves in

Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of the European continent and ...

. Owen-Crocker, Gale R., ''Dress in Anglo-Saxon England'', revised edition, Boydell Press, 2004, , pp. 42, 218 The achievement of skirt volume is also debated, ranging from a hipline seam with attached wide skirt to the addition of gores/godets to expand the hemline.

Gallery

File:Esculturas de Chartres 3 detail bliaut.jpg, One of the statues at

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly con ...

in a bliaut girone, 1130-1160 File:Hunterian Psalter c. 1170 Women.jpg, Two women from the Hunterian Psalter, Hortus Deliciarum Grammatica.jpg, Grammatica wears a bliaut in the ''

Hortus deliciarum __NOTOC__ The ''Hortus deliciarum'' (Latin for ''Garden of Delights'') was a medieval manuscript compiled by Herrad of Landsberg at the Hohenburg Abbey in Alsace, better known today as Mont Sainte-Odile. Description The ''Hortus deliciarum'' ...

'', File:Moralia in Job MS dragonslayer detail.jpg, An example of a male bliaut from the 12th century manuscript '' Moralia in Job''

The bliaut in Victorian art

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood became interested in the ideals and clothing of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. As a result, the bliaut as then understood is frequently featured upon women in their works. The most popular example of this particular garment in Pre-Raphaelite art may be ''The Accolade'' by

Edmund Blair Leighton Edmund Blair Leighton (21 September 18521 September 1922) was an English painter of historical genre scenes, specialising in Regency and medieval subjects. His art is associated with the pre-Raphaelite movement of the mid-to-late nineteenth an ...

References

{{Historical clothing, state=expanded Medieval European costume 12th-century fashion French clothing